Plymouth officials seek changes at Manomet Youth Center

Sunday

Aug 31, 2014 at 6:00 AM

By Frank Mandfmand@wickedlocal.com

PLYMOUTH – "Tell us what we need to do," Manomet resident Betty Costa-Cavacco told selectmen this week. "The Manomet Youth Center is an important outlet for our children. I’d rather have our town and taxpayers invest in a youth center instead of a detention center."Costa-Cavacco and hundreds of other Manomet residents – most also parents of school-aged children – were surprised to discover, less than a week before school started, that the Recreation Department was dramatically modifying the center’s after-school drop-in hours.Costa-Cavacco said that she and dozens of other parents would be willing to do whatever it takes to keep the facility open in the early evening, for at least the five school days each week.Part of her confidence comes from a petition drive she started on first hearing of the town’s plans.The petition is simple and to the point. Aimed at the town’s Director of Recreation, it reads, "Please keep Manomet Youth Center open for our children.""I benefitted from the youth center being open all week when I was a kid, and would like that available for the kids today, and it should be," another resident wrote."Keep the Manomet Rec. center open," one father said, echoing Cavacco after signing the petition. "It’s a great resource and safe space for kids to learn and play.""The youth center is a wonderful place for kids," one mother wrote. "They have a wonderful basketball league that my son played in for 10 years."As of Wednesday, 688 residents had signed Costa-Cavacco’s petition.But late word from Town Hall indicates the Recreation Department is not moving toward the facility’s closure but, instead, is hoping to put it on sounder financial grounds by restructuring its recreation programs.For now, the town has agreed to delay a final decision and to freeze the hours of operation while it works with residents to find a compromise solution."One of our biggest challenges is clearing up all of the public misconceptions," Town Manager Melissa Arrighi told the Old Colony Thursday. "Many people thought we were closing the youth center to the public, which is not accurate. What we wanted to do was to offer structured recreation programs at the center between the hours of 2:30 and 6 p.m."That would have eliminated the "drop-in" option, Arrighi acknowledged. If you were at the center it would be for a specific program."For the past three years, usage during those particular hours has been on a steady decline," she explained.Several years ago, the center’s after-school drop-in service averaged between 20 and 60 children a day, for which the town charged a fee of $30 for the entire year. But over the past few years, in part because the schools are now offering extended-day programs at very reasonable rates, including snacks, those numbers dropped."There’s been a steady decline," Arrighi said. "And we’re now down to only a few kids that use the youth center during this time." Those numbers were down to 8-16 children per day last year.Between the declining participation and the low annual cost, the operational expenses, including 2 staff members, is no longer sustainable and certainly isn’t cost effective," Arrighi said.The cost to staff the drop-in, after-school option is about $22,000 a year, an expenditure that has been subsidized for many years by the Recreation Department’s revolving fund The town’s plan is to generate revenue and attendance through special programs held during the same time period.But Arrighi said the town can be flexible."If we see the community rallying around keeping the center as a daycare operation during those time periods, then we would recommend an increase in both participation and in the annual fee," Arrighi said.The town would need close to 150 family memberships to make the program cost effective, Arrighi said, even with the annual fee raised to $50."We would love to see the Manomet Village Steering Committee or Manomet families engaged and committed to take over some of the annual fundraising for the programming at the center to offset some of the operational costs," Arrighi added. "There’s a gift account set up for this, but not much activity from the public. "At the selectmen’s meeting this week, Chairman Ken Tavares said he had not been aware of the situation until Costa-Cavacco spoke during the public comment section of the meeting.It was agreed to delay a final decision on the center’s change in hours until at least the selectmen can review the situation and hear from town officials and interested residents. The issue has been placed on the agenda for next Tuesday night’s board meeting.Costa-Cavacco told selectmen she is willing to do whatever it takes, including spearhead a membership drive.She said she thinks there are several ways to increase the appeal and utility of the facility, including making it a place where students can get assistance with their schoolwork."I think the center would be a good place for kids to get help with their homework," Costa-Cavacco said. "The National Honor Society requires its members to do community service, and the center would be a great place for them to fulfill this requirement."With a few minor changes, the youth center could be the glory it once was," Costa-Cavacco concluded with a final plea. "Let us help accomplish this. Tell us what we need to do for a successful and safe environment for our children."Follow Frank Mand on Twitter @frankmandOCM.